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Friday, January 6, 2012

Woodworth's Proposed "debate" unnecessary and unwanted

Shannon Dea has written a wonderful article in The Record describing the renewed calls for a so called abortion "debate" unnecessary and unwanted. In it, she lambastes MP Stephen Woodworth's proposal urging Parliament to examine the "unusual Canadian statute" that defines a human being. I suggest you read it. Dea describes quite clearly why Woodworth's rhetorical flourish that a baby has "sub-human" status while the little toe is still in the birth canal is merely attention seekeing tripe. He is quite wrong.

This is yet another red herring that obfuscates the real issue and tries, desperately, by incrementalism, to infringe on women's legal right to control our own bodies, plan our families and be conscious about our reproduction. It plays on the utterly wrong notion that women are having abortions right up to the day they are due. This doesn't happen, as we all know. The vast majority of abortions are performed in the first trimester. Later abortions are rare and often performed to save the life of the mother or in cases where severe fetal abnormalities have been identified.

Dea's conclusion bears repeating. She writes, "In survey after survey, Canadians have been quite clear that they have no interest in reopening the abortion debate. Ultimately, Woodworth’s (news) release is no more than a superficial attempt to take advantage of the slow holiday news season, and not a serious effort to engage in deliberation and dialogue based on genuine data."

And let's not forget one other thing. Nothing happens in Conservative Land that isn't explicitly permitted by our control freak of a PM. To suggest that Woodworth is acting alone as a private member is another ruse that we all see through. The Conservatives are playing to their base, and you have to know Stephen Harper has given his blessing.